Bend so you don’t break

Do you go to the gym? 

When was the last time you stretched properly? 

Be honest, most people who work hard in the gym spend far more time lifting weights than recovering, stretching or improving mobility.

Strength training is fantastic, and is one of the most effective ways to support overall health. It builds muscle, strengthens bones, improves metabolism, and protects your joints. Lifting weights challenges the muscle fibers to adapt and grow, while also stimulating bone density and improving how efficiently your nervous system works. 

Where it can miss the mark however, is in developing mobility and flexibility, especially if it’s done in a repetitive or limited range of motion. Many strength exercises train muscles to contract and generate force, but not necessarily to lengthen, rotate, or move freely through their full potential range. Over time, this can lead to tissues becoming dense or restricted, particularly if recovery or stretching isn’t included.

In simple terms, strength training makes you strong, stable and builds powerful muscles, but it can also create tightness in areas like the hips, hamstrings, chest, and shoulders. Over time, that tightness can limit your mobility, affect your lifting form, and increase your risk of injury. Without complementary practices like mobility work and stretching, you may not be as fluid in your movement as you might hope to be. That’s where yoga can make a huge difference.

Yoga is a great complement to strength training. It improves mobility and flexibility, helping you get deeper into squats and maintain better lifting technique. It reduces muscle tightness and soreness, which is great for recovery between training sessions. Yoga builds core stability which is essential for heavy lifts like deadlifts and squats. It enhances mind muscle connection, helping you train with better control and awareness, and supports injury prevention. 

Yoga shouldn't replace strength training in your routine, but it can make you stronger, more mobile, and more resilient. If you regularly strength train in the gym, or at home, try adding just one yoga class a week. There are tons of free resources online, the charity shops are awash with yoga dvds, or you could even try attending an in person class. Most decent gyms have yoga classes on their timetable these days so why not give it a go?